Nothing says “yum!” like a bit of nomenclatural confusion — especially with a side of near extinction.

But that’s what you get once you venture down the culinary path with bison, an alternative red meat that is showing up at more and more grocers nationwide.

And these massive shaggy creatures are such a delicious — and good for us — meat, it’s worth sorting it all out.

So let’s start with the name. The critter you know as the American buffalo (yes, of rolling plains and Native American fame) really isn’t a buffalo at all.

Turns out there are only a few types of buffalo in the world (including the Asian water buffalo and African Cape buffalo). The American buffalo (technically bison) is more closely related to your run-of-the-mill cow. Yet people tend to use the terms interchangeably and we’re not going to get too bent out of shape over it.